


Midnight Snacks and Biohazard-Suites

by Donkeyk18



Series: Me Amongst the Stars [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Comedy, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 15:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2434370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donkeyk18/pseuds/Donkeyk18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set between mass effect 1 and 2. The crew is on a cleanup mission between galaxies. Shepard is restless and cannot sleep despite what her body is saying. She decides to get up and make her something in the mess hall of the Normandy. She starts off alone, but as the mid night snack gets on way more and more of the Normandy senior crew wake up and join her. From a midnight snack, it lands up being a full blown pajama party. One shot of how the time may have been spent on the Normandy between missions. A slice of life as Shepard interacts with her crew in a more social setting. This will be a multiple chapter work, each chapter dealing with a different snapshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Snacks and Biohazard-Suites

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Feedback always helpful. I can only get better with feedback. Prompts for later chapters also welcome.

Space; the final frontier. It was certainly a vast and largely empty area, with little left to discover, the space between galaxies were really more dead-space than anything else. The Normandy sailed quietly and alone between the galaxies, occasionally passing the odd orbit-less star, she continued without falter or complaint as she moved smoothly; proudly transporting in her what would eventually be the savior of the Galaxy. Shepard was glad to be back in space and back on the Normandy. The weeks immediately after the Saren saga had left her slightly drained, the commander never really cared for all the PR bullshit that often surrounded council affairs. Over the past few weeks, Shepard had been present at every council campaign, Prothean seminar, photoshoots, alliance recruitment tour and a flurry of every other increasingly distasteful soiree, the onslaught was relentless and Shepard would periodically and regularly regret her decision to save the council.

However, none of that mattered now, she and her senior crew were back on board the Normandy and were on track with a ‘cleanup’ mission.   Orders had come in from both Alliance brass and the council; instructing Shepard to scour the galaxy for Geth strongholds and other research facilities which were established by Saren. The mission itself wasn’t especially dangerous, most of the bases the Normandy crew came across were deserted, the Geth that were linked to Saren and Sovereign opted to self-district or go into a state of hibernation, either way once Shepard was done - there were only scattered pieces of defecting Geth left. As for the labs and research facilities, here to, the labs the Normandy had come across were abandoned, the equipment stripped by merc’s and any hard-drives or terminals that were still there were wiped. On the rare occasion when Shepard and her team did find some usable information, they would pass it onto the relevant authorities.

The single largest problem with this mission was the lack of information. The Normandy would often spend days a drift in deep space waiting for any messages with information or clues as to where their next target was. As a result, the Normandy crew chose to act as humanitarian aid during the interim between assignments.

Commander Jane Shepard sighed heavily as she lay face up, arms and legs sprawled out on her bed, She stared blankly through the cabin ceiling into space. A few fine beads of sweat had settled on her forehead, with a few more developing along her neck and shoulders. She sighed again, at 29 degrees Celsius, the room was just too hot for anyone to sleep.

During a relief mission at a mining colony on **Klendagon, a** n arid terrestrial, slightly larger than [Earth](http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Earth); the Normandy was forced to land to provide medical aid to the colony, this exposed the Normandy to extreme temperatures that ultimately fried the cooling system. The cooling system on board the Normandy wasn’t so much responsible for generating and circulating cold air as much as it was accountable for venting the residual heat from the IES (internal emission sink) stealth drive.

One of the key features of the Normandy’s drive system is its unique lithium heat sink that could be activated to store heat generated from the drive in the Hull of the ship for reconnaissance or infiltration missions, or if the ship and crew needed to seem invisible to sensors. However, the ship could not actively run the sinking processes for such extended periods of time as the rest of the mission would have required, at least not without exposing the crew to dangerous levels of radiation. As-a-best-of-a-bad-situation compromise, Engineering decided to use the ship as a conduit to vent the heat from the core until they could dock and make repairs, after all, they reasoned the crew cold survive heat exposure much longer than they would the radiation from the burnt out lithium sinks…Shepard was seriously beginning to wonder if she preferred growing an extra eye over the relentless dead heat they were enduring.

Shepard sat up in her bed, having decided to give up on sleep for that night she looked around her empty cabin, listening closely to any noises outside. It was twilight hours on the Normandy. Most of the 52 crew were either asleep or at the very least assigned to quarters. The Normandy SR1 could be run by a minimum of 3 people including the pilot. This meant that at this time of night, there was an absolute skeleton staff manning the ship, their assignments: keeping an eye on sensors for merc’s, pirates or distress beacons. Shepard grudgingly stood up off her bed, the floor slightly cooler to the touch of her feet. She ambled to her terminal, perhaps there was something interesting on the extranet.

Shepard turned on her terminal and watched the startup scripts run to completion. She leaned back into her chair and stretched upward sighing heavily and then pulling down her damp tank top. Shepard could often relax enough from watching extranet vids so that she could get some sleep. She hoped it would work this time as well. She opened the Inter-Galactic Explorer as she adjusted herself in her seat and placed her feet on different parts of the floor, drinking in as much of the cold steel as she could.

“What shall I search..?” Shepard asked herself. The left side of her lips and face scrunching up as she thought harder.

[Commander Jane Shepard] she put into the search bar.

‘About 687 34000 results (0.28 seconds)’ .

Shepard whistled. Most of it was about the Prothean beacon. Shepard scrolled down through the results. The results seemed endless, link after link to some or other article or news report regarding the Prothean find, Saren, The Council…Shepard rolled her eyes ,fame was not one of the reason you joined the navy…in reality you joined the navy to avoid that sort of thing.

 _‘Commander Shepard Naked’_ read one of the links.

“What!?” Shepard exclaimed, “…this is ridiculous”. She opened the link to investigate. As the page loaded, Shepard couldn’t help thinking back… what if something did get out? As it turned out, the title of the link was nothing more than a rouge to get people to visit some ridiculous extranet page that could apparently tell you the secret to playing the intergalactic stock market. Shepard shook her head annoyed but also relieved and went back to scrolling through the results.

[Dr_T’soni234 is Online] a small bubble to the right of the terminal screen popped up.

Shepard raised her eyebrow and checked the time again…it was awfully late. Shepard opened her Instant messenger and then opened a chat with _Dr_T’soni234._ She sat for a moment, thinking how best to start a conversation.

[Isn’t it past your bed time?] Shepard typed.

[ _Send_ ]

[ _Message Delivered]_

Shepard sat back and waited….and waited… and waited. Liara and Shepard had managed to settle into a good routine since their return to the Normandy. Closer to the end of their PR campaign, the two shared a wonderful, romantic night that reaffirmed their affection for each other. However, Liara was adopted as one of the senior crew and as a consequence, they had to keep their relationship on the DL…even though most of the crew knew about the relationship, it was out of respect that Shepard and Liara decided not to spend every night together…regardless of how much they each wanted to.

Shepard continued to watch her terminal screen, it truly felt like eternity!

[ _Message Read]_

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

Shepard perked up, sitting slightly higher in her chair than she had been.

[Good evening Commander Shepard, at 106 years old, I like to think I am perfectly capable of choosing my own bed time J ...Besides you are up awfully late commander, is everything alright?]

[Or awfully early Dr., there are so many ways to look at this. Yes all is fine thank you. Just can’t get any rest with this damn heat L]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[I am terribly sorry Commander. Yes the heat is becoming unbearable] … [Perhaps a cold shower?]

[Only if you are going to join me…?]

 

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[Shepard, I believe I have found another location where Saren may have stationed an indoctrination lab.]

Shepard looked at the message, Liara was very good at changing the subject and avoiding certain topics.

[Ok, that’s great, thank you. Send me the dossier, I’ll look at it tomorrow]

[What are you up to?]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[It is my pleasure Shepard. I have just finished editing a paper for an old lecturer of mine on Thessia]

[What was it about?]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[I am sure you are just being polite, Shepard]

[Really I want to know]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[Very well, it is a systems analysis by Dr Lamapard that has attempted to consolidate several theories on Prothean technology and the way the beacons transfer information ,not only from the beacon to people but between the beacons themselves. It appears that all the beacons are wirelessly linked, enabling some kind of sharing between the beacons. Dr Lampard suggests that if we could tap into this signal, we could unlock so much regarding Protheans technology and culture.]

While Shepard wasn’t an as adept scientist as Dr T’soni, she was no mediocre navy grunt either. Nevertheless, Shepard had to read that sentence several times before she fully grasped.

[wow…]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[I’m sorry I am boring you]

[No its just a little too early in the morning for me to take it all in]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[I understand]

[Seriously it’s not you, it’s me]

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[Shepard, it is ok. I understand J]

Shepard sighed.

_[Dr_T’soni234 is writing a message]_

[Well Shepard, I best get some sleep. I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight]

[Goodnight Liara]

No, things just weren’t going the Commanders way tonight! First it is too hot to sleep, and now …well she wasn’t exactly sure what just happened, but she was still sweaty and alone, and surely that was not the best way it could have gone. Shepard stretched up once more, she didn’t feel any more tired than she did when she first sat down, and actually if anything she felt more awake. The commander shut-down the terminal and preceded to the bathroom, maybe Liara was right, what she needed was a cool, relaxing shower. She walked into the bathroom cubical and turned on the water, even though it was going to be a cold shower, it was force of habit to let the water run. Shepard undressed, surveying herself in the mirror. She was tall, well-toned and her muscles very well defined. As she stood in front of the mirror, she shifted and flexed, testing her reflection for best angles and what she might expect Liara would see when they….Shepard laughed to herself.

The commander walked into the shower and stood under the streaming water. It was cool, soft and absolutely refreshing. Shepard let the water run over her hot body, cooling her agitated skin. She shampooed, lathered, soaped, rinsed and repeated. The sticky feeling of sweat on her washing away in a luxurious stream of cold water. One of the perks of being the commanding officer of any vessel, without a doubt is the private bathroom privileges. Shepard finished up in the shower and exited. Having barely dried herself, she slipped into a pair of alliance cargo blues (which were black) and a clean, dry N7 tank-top. Shepard felt much better. Her hair was still wet, but she appreciated the cold and wet against her neck. Shepard flopped on to her bed, the sheets much cooler, now that she has been away. Shepard’s lips curled into a broad smile, she felt herself easing out of reality and into a distant place.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Shepard’s eyes shot open, at the same moment her right hand flew to her stomach.

“No! this cannot be happening” Shepard whined as she rolled over onto her side. No matter how determined the commander was to sleep, it did not appear that she would this night. Shepard twisted, she turned, she wreathed and she rolled, it didn’t stop it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Her stomach protested. It was time for a midnight snack. Shepard returned to her back, she lifted her neck and stretched head to look at her stomach:

“I know all you’re doing is grumbling…but you know what it sounds like to me?”

Shepard paused dramatically.

“It sounds like, ‘I hate you Shepard, I don’t want you to sleep Shepard!’. DO YOU HATE ME STOMACH,DO YOU?”

GRRRRRRRRR!

“Urgh!!!! Fine!”. Shepard exclaimed as she flung herself from her bed and began a very loud march out of her cabin and to the mess hall. The truth was that Shepard’s body burnt a ridiculous amount of calories in a very short amount of time. Much like your older brother who was constantly eating and it didn’t matter what they ate or how much of it they ate they never seemed to gain a pound, Shepard’s body constantly needed fuel. Over the years Shepard had become accustomed to these late night hunger-strikes, in lieu of this Shepard had managed to develop a respectable talent for cooking, she very secretly even enjoyed the activity.

Shepard walked quickly and quietly into the mess, as she passed the med-bay she noted the lights were set to dim, signaling that the good doctor, and Laira were sound asleep. Shepard opened the warmer, usually there would be a huge dish of left overs, Shepard was disappointed to find nothing. What could she expect, last night was Pizza Night. The commander stood and thought for a moment, her eye caught a bowel of appels on the counter. Shepard hated apples, of every strange and horrible fruit she had ever had, which included Flalengea, a pungent fruit from the Hanar home-world - apples were the worst. Shepard stared at them for a moment longer, deciding if she was One: Hungry enough to eat one and, Two: if she had exhausted all her options….

“Nope.” A definite decision made. Shepard went back to raiding the cupboards, eventually finding a tomato, ripe for eating. Shepard licked her lips and bit into it. The red juices running down the sides of her mouth. Shepard pulled away from the tomato, chewing her bite, she wiped the syrup with her wrist and smiled. It was cool, sweet and a little tart. Shepard chewed slowly, savoring the crunch and invitingly soft inners of the tomato. Her lips smacking apart as she prepared for another bite.

‘Ricotta cheese and basil on French Style Beget - would go very well with this’ her brain farted.

Shepard paused…she had just rummaged through the cupboards and knew exactly what ingredients there were and where.

‘but I was just here for a simple snack…I don’t feel like cooking’ Shepard entered a conversation with her herself.

Without warning, Shepard spun around and turned to the stove, bending swiftly to pull out a flat pan and small saucepan from the drawer under stove, placing the recovered items on the stove stop and turning both onto a medium to low heat. ‘Ok’ She thought to herself, if you are going to this, do it properly’ she walked to the sink and washed her hands, drying them on a piece of cloth before throwing the cloth over her left shoulder. Where to begin….MUSIC! Shepard lifted her left wrist and activated her omnitool, she was in the mood now and she knew just what songs would match her mood. A little known fact about Commander Jane Shepard was her love for old earth music. Her choice for this evening little kitchen adventure were the Gypsie Kings…that smooth guitar, quick Spanish words…Shepard laughed to herself this is what it was all about. The Specters foot began to tap in tune with the beat. She got out her knife and proceeded to unpack her ingredients, placing them on the counter in the order she would eventually use them.

Shepard began with a small onion. Shepard cut through the top and bottom, quickly removing the outer skin before she sliced it in half and began to chop furiously. Her hips swayed in time with the beat as she finished chopping the onion, dumping it with a nob of butter into the small saucepan. Next, came a clove of garlic which she crushed with the blade of the knife against the wooden cutting board before finely chopping it and throwing it into the onions. Shepard stood over the saucepan as she swirled the contents by the handle, inhaling the growing aroma. Shepard’s head bobbed, Yes, to the food and yes to beat. She returned the saucepan to the heat and put the oven on to preheat; now she was cooking. The Commander grabbed a small cup with some flour and began slowly adding it to the saucepan with the onions and the garlic, gradually stirring the concoction, allowing it to form a roux. While the roux cooked, Shepard took a large bunch of fresh spinach from the fringe drawer and rinsed it.

In the now warm flat pan Shepard spooned to medium sized portion of butter, allowing it melt and bubbling slightly before adding the pre-chopped mushroom mix, which she spread out to evenly cover the base of the pan with her left hand as her right hand poured full-cream milk and heavy cream into her roux, thinning it to a creamy sauce. Shepard hovered over the stove, seasoning the mushrooms with salt (which she shared with the roux), black pepper and a sprinkle of dry sage. The commander returned to the cutting board where she roughly shopped the spinach, cubed a few fresh vine ripe tomato’s before she wiped the blade clean on the cloth she had draped over her shoulder and roughly sliced and cubed 3 different cheeses that would eventually be melted down into eewie gooie goodness; keeping each ingredient in a neat pile on her cutting board.

Shepard checked her work-in-progress, she flipped the mushrooms in the flat saucepan, giving all sides equal chance to sauté and she vigorously stirred the white sauce base for her eventual creamed spinach. The mouthwatering aroma’s being generated by the commanders late night splurge wafted tantalizingly from the kitchen in heavenly clouds of deliciousness to come. They filled the kitchen, mess hall and beyond. The sounds of cooking coupled with the upbeat Spanish music of the Gypsy Kings transported Shepard off the Normandy and to a time before she was Commander Shepard, a simpler time. Shepard reminisced, true - there was little to nothing she would trade for what she had now, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a time long ago when she was equally happy. Shepard was completely engrossed in the task of cooking. She spun the knife in her hand playfully, tipped a mushroom into her mouth, and dipped her finger into her sauce, measuring it for taste and readiness. Savoring the parts of an eventual hole. She was patient as she cooked, waiting for the right moment to add the spinach to the cream sauce, once it came she scooped up the chopped spinach and let it fall into the saucepan, closing the lid - allowing it to wilt as she continued to jive jovially to ‘Volare’; humming under her breath to the words.

“I didn’t know you could cook” a smooth voice came from the bar behind the Commander who was barely startled, and while she tensed slightly at the unexpected interruption, she continued to sway her hips and now shoulders and head in time with the rhythm.

“Care to join me?” the Commander responded to the question, not turning to affirm the identity of her guest, after all she already knew who it was.

“Yes please, if you have extra that is…” The Asari responded a little softer than her initial question.

“Absolutely!” Shepard perked up, “There’s an old Japanese saying: ‘Food tastes better in company’ I like to think it’s true” Shepard said with a smile, having finally turned around she stroked an invisible mustache and spoke with the accent of an English speaking Japanese man. She had retrieved a quarter-loaf of sower-dough bread from the fridge and began cutting it, knowing it would pair well with her other ingredients; she constantly kept an eye on the stove and her simmering pots. The commander paused in her activities and took a moment to take in the beauty that was Laira. Shepard smiled broadly; the Prothean expert it appeared; had finally succumbed to the comforts of Earth style pajamas. Shepard remembered the first few nights that Liara had spent with her in her cabin. The Asari chose to sleep in a style of cloths similar to the lab suite Shepard found Liara in on Illium. Liara defended her choice as having been a traditional Asari cut, and while Shepard didn’t argue with her, except for having repeated several times that it looked terribly uncomfortable and having given the choice Shepard would choose to sleep completely naked on a bed of nails and scorpions before she went to bed wearing that.

This night however, Liara had joined the Commander in a silver spaghetti strap, silk nightgown, over which she wore a matching silk robe which she allowed to stay open. Liara looked simply tantalizing. The soft fluid material flowed over her body effortlessly hugging all the right places in all the right ways. The Commanders breath caught a little as she took it all, reminding herself that she often had unlimited access to the body in front of her, a tiny feeling of self-satisfaction washed over the commander.

Liara watched her Commander as she cooked, she was both astonished and unsurprised, she always did feel that Shepard was a jack-of-all-trades and there was little she couldn’t do and even less she couldn’t do well. Liara had taken a seat at the counter that demarcated the kitchen area from the rest of the mess-hall. She watched Shepard intently as the soldier moved about the kitchen and the task before her with ease and prowess, and unexpected but certain grace that would be characteristic of a person long familiar with this particular art. Liara herself wasn’t an adept cook, surely she wouldn’t starve if left to her own devices, but she was not at all familiar with traditional styles and flavors of Asari dishes, her only knowledge was that freshness was fundamental to Asari food, meaning their dishes typically included one or more raw ingredients and were seldom if ever deep fried or contained the marvelous product that was _butter._

Liara tried to look past the Commander-turned-chef and investigate what was cooking but she had little success as Shepard buzzed around the small nook as she scraped the cheeses into the spinach which had now reduced to a fraction of its initial size, she proceeded to fold the cubes in and watched them slowly melt into a thick and wonderful, molten slurry.

“Liara, I’m sorry if I woke you.” Shepard said with her back to the scientist.

“There’s no need to apologies Shepard, it was too hot to sleep.” Liara replied soothingly. When they were alone, both chose to leave the formalities for the presence of other officers and crew members. This for them was a gesture and affirmation of their intimacy and comfort with each other.

“Would you like something to drink?” Shepard half-turned, having started to enjoy the evening a little more now that Liara was here.

“That would be great, anything cold please.” Liara shifted on her seat to a more comfortable and relaxed position, leaning slightly forward on the counter in front of her.

Shepard paused…what to drink…Shepard looked at Liara, thought overcoming her…’it was to late in the night for soda, but too early in the morning for alcohol (not that it was aloud on a military ship)…a hot drink like tea or coffee wouldn’t pair well with the meal she was preparing…a juice perhaps? AS if having read her mind, Liara chuckled at the Commander’s hesitation.

“What?” Shepard smiled, having half reached for the fridge handle.

“You aren’t sure what to offer me to drink are you?” Liara said cooley.

“No I am not.” Shepard confirmed with a light-hearted concession to the point, in her voice.

“Perhaps a lemon Ice Tea”, came a second female voice to the left of Shepard. This time Shepard did look up and found Lieutenant Ashley Williams walking into the mess-hall in what Shepard supposed was her pajama’s - which were a pair of long, blue and grey checked cotton pants and a Alliance issue tank-top and flops.

”I’m sorry to interrupt you Commander and Dr T’soni, I just came down for a glass of water.” Ashley said as she walked nearer to the kitchen, passing Liara.

“Not at all Lieutenant, why don’t you join us. I believe it’s referred to as a mid-night snack”. Liara spoke before Shepard had a chance to formulate a sentence. Liara had become quite good friends with most of the crew, Shepard supposed it had something to do with framing her own identity amongst the Normandy crew and positioning herself in a social-context…a position that was not cast solely by the fact that she was the Commanding Officer’s lover.

“Gosh, thank you Doctor, but I really wouldn’t want to impose. I mean ya’ll are sitting and having a nice conversation. It wouldn’t be polite of me to just interrupt.” Ashley said shyly.

“Common LT grab a chair” Shepard chirped in as she signaled for the LT to sit on a stool beside Liara at the counter. Shepard proceeded to fill 3 glasses with ice and mint before beating the contents of the glass with the back of a wooden spoon forming a minty crush, she then poured the ready-mixed lemon ice-tea over the crush, finishing the drinks off with a large strawberry and distributed the drinks to the two to the ladies sitting in front of her.

Shepard turned back to her work space behind her and began putting together her sandwiches. Behind her Liara and Ashley began a conversation that focused mostly on the arbitrary and other social niceties, a clear indication to Shepard that Ash hadn’t fully gotten over her xenophobia towards aliens but was making steady progress and Liara was indeed coming out her shell and into her own. Shepard half listened focusing more on the food.

”So Liara, not that I am complaining, I was just wondering. What is with the silk nightgown?” Ashley asked over sips of her ice-tea.

Shepard could almost hear the blush in Liara’s voice. Liara moved to close the front of her robe, feeling a little self-conscious as she answered.

“Well, I uh, it’s very hot and…uh this is a lot more comfortable than what Asari traditionally wear. I understand now why many Asari choose to sleep naked, and as a daughter of a matriarch I hardly think that would be at all appropriate.” Liara managed. An awkward silence settled over the three. Ashley didn’t know how to respond and Shepard didn’t know how to respond in a non-sexual way. Liara and Ashley both took a sip of their drinks, both actively avoiding eye contact.

Shepard cleared her throat, loud enough to signal to the two that the conversation would now be moving on to a less awkward topic.

“So, uhm, we will be picking up a few new recruits when we get back to the Citadel to refuel and resupply”. Shepard turned to work-talk as a way of moving past the awkward silence.

“Are we that close to finishing the op, Commander?” Ashley sat up a little straighter.

“Actually no, but the brass is implementing a new course in basic training, they feel that a lot of recruits aren’t mentally ready for deep space missions, or extended periods off planet and they aren’t performing or are ringing out. The Alliance is trying to avoid losing to many recruits because of misinformation so in the first two weeks of basic they are being deployed on every space-worthy craft and sent to see what it’s like and if they can handle it.”

“I like the idea of it, but within the first month of basic, I wonder if these kids even know how to tie their boots” Ashely responded a bi flabbergasted.

Shepard shrugged her shoulders.

“How many are you expecting Commander” Liara asked politely.

Shepard sighed slightly, the formalities had returned with the presence of Ashley, and while Shepard didn’t mind, she felt a slight sense of loss at the impromptu but intimate midnight date she and Liara had stumbled into.

“Three”. “Ash you will get one, Garrus probably and depending on what kind of mood I am in, Ill assign one to Wrex.” Shepard and the other two chuckled cruelly. Shepard turned to the two still smiling as she handed each of them a plate.

Liara and Ashely looked at the plates, both of their eyebrows slightly raised in pleasant surprise. “This evening we have a creamed spinach with sautéed mixed mushrooms and fresh tomato on toasted sour dow. Bon Appetite.” In front of the two was placed a crisp golden brown sandwich. The creamed spinach oozing out of the sides as soft, succulent mushrooms barely held on to cubed pieces of tomato that soften and looked slightly glazed as they were exposed to the heat of the other two ingredients.  

“Shepard this looks amazing.” Liara slurred slightly while her mouth salivated in anticipation. Ashely didn’t seem to wait, she picked up one half and bit into it, the sound of teeth biting into buttery toasted bread. Silence fell over the three again, as Liara and Shepard watched Ashley and her reaction.

“Is this a non-dextro only party or were we just not invited” came a gruff voice from the far right of the kitchen. Garrus stood silhouetted but the gun battery bay light, his arms folded like a big brother catching his younger siblings doing something they probably shouldn’t. Beside him Stood Tali, also silhouetted by the back light. Shepard looked at the pair, her initial smile turning into mild confusion as she noticed Tali’s image looked a little…rounded than usual.

“G-Man!” Shepard teased, “I’ve got some dextro chips here with your name on”. Shepard signaled for the two to come closer. SLAP! The sound of plastic hitting a relatively solid object resonated through the quiet mess hall. Shepard, Liara and Ashley turned swiftly towards the origin of sound, just in time to see Tali’s hand return to her side after having obviously punched Garrus in the arm.

“why are you so rude?!” Tali’s loud whisper echoed through the mess-hall.

The three observers at the kitchen stood silently, their mouths gaping as they watched the spectacle unfold. Ashley had even stopped eating, completely awe struck.

Garrus cleared his throat “Ahm sorry Shepard, Liara, Ashley. May we join you?”

Shepard didn’t speak, instead she stood up straight and spread her arms widely. A gesture of welcome to the two new members of this little midnight festival.

Garrus and Tali walked slowly to the kitchen, arriving with and swish and squeaks like those you would hear from the yellow latex gloves earth women use. Shepard had her back to her guests as she worked on preparing drinks and a snack for the new compliment. Shepard turned holding a fresh drink in either hand ready for Tali and Garrus.

“Well……” Shepard managed to choke out. She looked to Liara and Ashley who offered no assistance as they sat wide mouthed gapping at the scene of Garrus and Tali as well. Garrus sat heavily on one of the remaining bar stools pulling the last one out for Tali. Shepard looked back at Garrus and Tali, her mind racing with a million questions – all of which were irrelevant in light of the fact that her mind had become paralyzed with laughter. Shepard respected her alien company, and thoroughly enjoyed learnin and exploring their tradition, but sometimes like tonight…things got a little unreal. Garrus had come to the messhall in his pajamas, which was a respectable and understandable thing…however his pajamas were well….not as respectable. He wore a long single piece nightgown and matching cap. Yes Garrus was wearing the Turian equivalent of Japeto’s night cloths. As for Tali, Shepard admitted to herself that it hadn’t quite occurred to her before now that naturally Tali wouldn’t spend all day and night in her environmental-suit. At least, Shepard consoled herself, that was the best reasoning she could provide for the bright-yellow, basic plastic suite, that reminded Shepard of a Haz-med suite that they used on Earth to protect people dealing with toxic or infectious situations. Shepard shook her heard braking her train of thought and handed the two new aliens their drinks.

Liara and Ashley burst out laughing, unable to maintain their composure they coaxed Shepard into a low laugh as well. Garrus and Tali sat, chuckling half heartedly with the crew unsure of what the joke was but equally uninterested in ‘missing it’.

Shepard turned back to the kitchen and fixed some more plates and dextro friendly food. They sat in the dimly lit mess-hall chatting, laughing and enjoying the food and each other’s company. The conversation moved fluidly from mission specs, stories growing up, each sharing something unknown from their pasts, Shepard managed to get an explaination on the Turrians outfit and he managed to get one jest in about Liara and Shepard’s relationship. The conversation was light hearted and just a brick in the wall of the time spent on the Normandy. During one of the many moments when the group was engrossed in a stomach-crunching fit of laughter, a hard knock from one of the steel tables near the kitchen made the group stop and look up. Shepard turned to see Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner standing in the mess.

“Mess Sergeant Gardner. I’m sorry did we disturb you?” Shepard asked politely, smiling broadly.

“Not at all Commander. But I am afraid I am going to have to disturb you…” he answered just as politely but with a slightly less enthusiastic smile.

Shepard and the group looked at him quizzically, unable to conclude themselves why he would need to disturb them. Seeing the confusion on their faces the Mess Sergeant continued:

“I’m afraid it’s 5:45am, breakfast starts at 6:30am Ma’am.” Gardner finished.

Shepard nodded and looked around the kitchen. They had at some point during the midnight splurge washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Feeling satisfied, the group bid each other a good morning and each moved in the direction of their quarters, not to sleep, but to get ready for the day shift and whatever interesting adventures were waiting for them.

FIN


End file.
